Fighting Dragon, Hidden Wolf
by Hitokiri Sounga
Summary: A job goes bad. Goemon is shot, he is found in the middle of the woods by a woman with a shadowy past and love for the lost. Her best friend surprises the silent samurai as he begins to build a friendship with the reclusive woman.


Fighting Dragon, Hidden Wolf

Chapter 1: Sanctuary

Lyra walked through the shrine grounds her geta making surprisingly no noise as the leaves moved around her. She heard Ichigo growl and bark and she stepped off the path and into the forest surrounding the dojo. There she found a man in traditional samurai clothing. She also noticed the sheathed katana in his hand. She keeled beside the passed out man gently touching his neck, she felt his weak pulse and noticed the slowly spreading puddle of blood. "Ichigo, Get the sled."The black wolf turned and loped back the the house pulling out the long sled used for dragging firewood. She placed her hands gently on his forehead and noticed he had a steadily climbing fever, she noticed the clouded dark eyes looking up at her. "Don't worry your safe. What is your name?" He tried to talk but his voice came out as a rasp. "Go..Goe..Goemon" He finally rasped out before he passed out from the blood loss. Ichigo returned dragging the sled and it took her a few minutes to get Goemon on to it and she clicked the leads into place on Ichigo's harness. "Let's go home Ichigo"She picked up his sword and gently guided the sled home.

Miles away a man in a black fedora was smoking up a storm. "Damn it! Lupin. Goemon didn't make it back and from what we saw on the news, he wasn't captured ether"Another man, this one in a red sports jacket and a playboy's face was deep in thought. "I know Jigen, But we can't forget Goemon is an Iga ninja and he had his sword."The two men sat in silence for the rest of the day staring at the empty spot on the roof where there silent friend normally sat. Meanwhile the very person they were thinking of was having his side stitched by a woman. Her soft humming unknowingly kept him calm, as she stitched his side back together luckily for him the bullet wasn't that deep. Despite that he had bled so much from running.

For two months the woman hid and protected the Iga ninja, her wolf Ichigo coming to like the silent man who his mistress saved from the man-hunters. Though his mistress was a kind woman at heart she cleaned and maintained his sword, silently practicing with the weapon. Ichigo was sitting beside the silent warrior when his dark gray eyes opened to meet with the wolf's bright blue. "Wolf-brother have I gone to heaven?" The wolf stood and walked to the shoji door and stuck his head through a crack. Spotting his mistress he howled, she turned and came running. Lyra turned hearing Ichigo howl and knew something had occurred with the man, she turned running her practice sword strapped to her right hip. She came through the door having the man's deep gray eyes lock onto her emerald green ones. "Your finally awake." She said as she got him a glass of water and knelt next to him to help him drink. As he finished the cup he looked at her truly seeing the woman who had saved his life, She had long blood-red hair captured in a high tail. Her eyes were like living emeralds, bright as the dawn but as deep as the sea. "I am Lyra, This is Ichigo. You've been here at my dojo for two and a half months."

Her voice was soothing to him as she pointed to herself and then to the wolf. She was defiantly American, though she spoke beautiful Japanese."I've been here that long! I must send a message or make a phone call if it doesn't trouble you." She smiled and nodded. "I have a satellite phone that you can use." She retreated from the room to get the phone while the wolf laid his head in Goemon's hand. Goemon began to pet the wolf as he looked about the room, its dark wooden floors and solid walls made him feel like he was home. Lyra returned with a small tray and she knelt next to his shoulder. "Are you hungry? I have some miso soup and rice." He took a sniff and his eyes widened as there was a cup of green tea steaming on the tray as well, but his stomach beat him to it by growling. "I see you are hungry." She helped him sit up and handed him the chop sticks, before setting the steaming cup near his other hand. "When your done use the phone to call whomever you please. I will return in a little while." And with that she left him to eat, Ichigo watching him with silent blue eyes. "your mistress is a kind-woman, I must find a way to repay her."

After he finished eating he picked up the still steaming cup of tea and sipped it gently, a soft smile coming to his mouth as the taste rolled over his tongue. "excellent tea" He dialed the number he'd memorized some time ago. He heard ringing in his ear, before a sleepy voice picked up. "hello?" "Jigen."The man on the other end sat straight up in bed. "Goemon! Where are you? What happened?" The ninja chuckled silently. "I was shot, I'm not sure where I am at the moment. But tell Lupin I'm not dead and I will call you again when I find out where I am." They exchanged goodbyes and Goemon hung up and set the phone back on the tray. Ichigo stood and turned towards the door tail wagging. Goemon got up and walked to the door using the crack to peer into the yard. He heard the horse before it burst into the yard, the massive black animal was saddle-less and astride its back was his savior. Lyra was holding a basket of herbs and vegetables. "thank you Nightmare." she said as she gave the horse a couple carrots and apples, before turning towards the main house. As she entered the door to see Goemon standing there she smiled at him. "how was your lunch?"He bowed to her. "It was excellent thank you, you have been very kind to me. May I ask you a question?" She smiled and nodded as he picked his dishes up and followed her into the inner halls of the dojo.

Her kitchen was very western and spacious, done in dark woods and black appliances. "you have electricity?" She nodded as she set the basket on the counter and she delicately took the tray from him. "Ask what ever you like Goemon-San." Now that they were both standing he actually realized how tall she was,he was 6'4" and she stood only a couple inches shorter then him. "Where are we Lyra-dono?" She smiled at him, before pulling out a second cup and poured them both a fresh cup of green tea. "we are on Wolf Mountain. Twenty six miles north of the town of Wolf Lake, Montana." He had no idea he had made it so far from the meeting point. He was off by nearly fifty miles. "Would you mind if I used your phone again? I would like to tell my friends where I am." She nodded and he headed back to the bedroom to retrieve the phone, he picked it up and dialed the same number from earlier. It rang again in his ear and a different voice picked it up. "Hello?" "Lupin" The man on the other end lept out of his chair. "Goemon! Where are you?"The samurai shook his head. "I am twenty-six miles north of a place called Wolf Lake, Montana." Lupin told him they'd be there tomorrow morning, but before he could say anything else Lupin had hung up.

He returned to find Lyra staring out and open shoji door the forest gleaming in the twilight. "This place is in complete balance and peace, the one place in the world that feels like home to me." They spent the rest of the day in pleasant silence only talking when dinner arose and she fed him sushi, which he was extremely grateful for. After she changed his bandages and cleaned the wound she told him he would be fully healed within a week. She left him to dress and wandered across the house to the master suite, slowly striping her GI off as she went. The faint scars on her arms were visible in the moonlight as she scooped up a towel, her bath basket and headed for a small enclosed room just off her balcony. As she pushed the door open the full scent of the mineral hot spring hit her full on, Lyra set the towel on a shelf she'd built several months before and knelt in a smaller pool of water the wash the grime off her body before getting into the main spring. As she sank into the larger hot spring she decided she would bring Goemon here tomorrow to allow him a relaxing bath, Lyra wondered why she felt so safe around the man. He had been dressed as a traditional samurai,now he wore a large set of her winter GI to keep the coming cold from his healing body. Lyra got out and dried off, her tanned body seemingly off set with her crimson hair though within her emerald eyes something lay hidden. "I suppose I'll call Fuji when Goemon leaves and see if I can prod her for a visit."She mumbled to herself as she finished brushing her hair, before crawling into her bed.

Lupin and the gang had arrived in Wolf Lake and had found a hotel for the night. Jigen was in the bar getting a bourbon as he scanned a map looking for something to pinpoint his friends location. "you looking for something babe?" The Bartender looked at him, her brown eyes scanning his map of the area. "Yeah whats north of this place?" The woman flicked a bit of her brown-black hair over her shoulder. "There is nothing but forests north of us unless your looking for the halfbreed's place." His eyebrow raised under his hat as he gestured for more. The woman circled a spot on the map a inch or so above the town. "There is a reclusive, kinda crazy halfbreed Indian who lives up there. But the only way to get there is by horseback. Because no car could ever make it up those trails and flying in is impossible because of the constantly changing winds coming off the mountains." The bartender set down a second glass and told him it was on the house. "Thanks for the information." She waived him off and toddled down the bar to refill a drink for another costumer Jigen left and headed for the groups room to fill Lupin on what he had learned from the talkative bartender. After filling Lupin in the playboy went to see about getting some horses for them to ride.

Lupin walked down the main street of the small mountain town, his red sports jacket being tossed around by the harsh autumn winds. He passed the general store and the butchery before he saw the small stable on the edge of town. He walked up to a fence and was watching some horses playing when he heard someone call out to him. "Hey there, you looking for a horse?" An elderly woman said as she held a bucket full of grain in her right hand. "Yes ma'am, I'm looking to rent four horses for the day." She smiled at him as she dispersed the grain to different feed buckets. "If you don't mind me asking boy, where are you going for the day?" Lupin decided to use the information Jigen had gathered. "We are headed up to see the thunder falls and visit a friend who lives up there." The old woman gave him a warm look and offered him a hot cup of coffee. "It will cost you a thousand for the four horses, normally it would cost you three times that but your friends of my favorite horse trainer." he pain the woman and asked her to get the horses ready because they wanted to leave at sunrise, The woman nodded. "It will take you until noon to reach Wolf Mountain if you leave at dawn." The woman nodded in acknowledgement to his decision. "Very well young man I will have them ready." Lupin finished the paperwork quickly and bolted for the hotel room to get every one.

A couple hours later brings the Lupin group to the base of the densely forested mountain that, according to the old woman's map was where Goemon was. They rode on though, it was Jigen and not Fujiko complaining about being sore. "Oh shut up Jigen its not that hard of a ride." Lupin said before he saw the trails they had to go up and whined, to Fujiko this ride seemed familiar. It took them until just about noon before they reached the plateau that the old woman had mentioned. They found a well traveled path and started towards it before several wolves appeared snarling and snapping. "Wolves! What the hell!" Jigen yelled as he pulled his gun but Fujiko stopped him."you shoot and you will have a lot of trouble on our heads, wolves are an endangered species." Jigen looked to to see the snowy peaks above them. "Damn." One of the wolves threw its head back and howled, the noise would carry far. Meanwhile back at the dojo the howl reached the ears of the three currently eating breakfast. "someone is here."Lyra stood up and headed for her room to gather her weaponry.

Goemon stood up and being glad for the bath he had this morning changed into his GI and awaited her return, when Lyra walked back through the door she was dressed in a black GI with two seemingly twin swords in her grasp; also there was a bow and quiver strapped across her back. Goemon also noticed the guns strapped to her thighs. "I must defend my wolves and home." He nodded and held out his right hand. "I will help you." She handed him one of the swords, though it was the same weight and length of his the grip was worn in a different pattern. Lyra stepped outside and whistled, he heard answering whinnies and saw two horses come from the north side of the house. One was the black stallion he saw her riding three days ago the second was a white stallion of the same size. "Nightmare, Starlight I need your help." The black one knelt and she climbed on to his back. Goemon was gestured to ride the white one. Lyra threw her head back and howled, sounding even to Goemon like a she-wolf on the hunt. "Ichigo find them."She called on the wolf who howled and was replied to. She dug her heels into Nightmare's side's and took off after the wolf, Goemon following his desire to help her growing in his heart.

Lupin and crew were being held at bay by the nearly thirty wolves. "Damn is it just me or are there more then there were a minute ago."Two horses came into view from down the path but it was the riders that drew the groups attention. "Goemon!!!" Lupin yelled but the wolves stopped him from going anywhere. "Lyra? Is that really you?" The red-head looked at the blond woman her eyes UN-deceived by the minute changes in hair-color and make up. "Fuji!" The red-head rode right up to Fujiko, the wolves moving out of her way. "it is you." The two women smiled at one another before engulfing one another in hugs. "Its been along time Lyra." "That its has Fuji." "Who are they?" The red-head turned to the two men. "Thats Lupin and Jigen, There Goemon's friends."Lyra looked at Goemon and received a nod. "Very well, they may enter my domain." Lyra turned her horse and trotted back towards the dojo her wolves dispersing leaving only Ichigo to accompany the five.


End file.
